By Nivedita Niranjankumar
A satirical video is viral as Irish singer and songwriter Bob Geldof predicting the future of the internet during a 1999 interview with BBC Newsnight.
BOOM found that the video does not feature Geldof but shows comedian Michael Spicer, who made the spoof video based on a wide-ranging interview by singer David Bowie in 1999.
In the viral video, Spicer playing Bowie, talks in detail about how the internet would lead to social media, the spread of misinformation and targeted advertisements in the future.
He says that people would waste hours watching cute videos of cats and dogs and will communicate with emojis and not words. He also adds that people will frequently access social media sites on their phones to have arguments with strangers and that these platforms will make people share misinformation about immigration.
He ends by saying that a far-right government would take advantage of people's lack of attention and come to power thus ending freedom and democracy.
Arvind Mayaram, former finance secretary tweeted the video with the same misleading claim that it shows Geldof.
The same false claim is being shared by several people on Facebook
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video does not feature Bob Geldof but Michael Spicer a comedian who recreated David Bowie prescient 1999 BBC Newsnight interview. The same video of Spicer playing David Bowie is now viral as Bob Geldof. It has also gone viral in the past as the real David Bowie and Mick Jagger.
In his 1999 interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, Bowie, spoke at length about how the internet would change the world for good and bad.
Bowie, known for cult hits such as 'Space Oddity' and 'Heores,' said that he became a musician because it was subversive and provided him an opportunity to change the world. However, in 1999, the internet had replaced music to be the new subversive medium.
"I don't think we've even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable," Bowie said adding that if he was young again, he would opt to go the internet rather than music.
Bowie can be heard speaking about the internet from the 6.08 minute mark in this video.
Michael Spicer tweeted the video on January 3 with Bowie's son Duncan Jones quote-tweeting it with a laughing emoji and replying with the original video.
The same video has been viral in the past claiming it is late singer David Bowie himself who is talking and then claiming it is singer Mick Jagger. The comparison between photos of Geldof, Bowie, Jagger and Spicer, who is wearing makeup and a wig in the viral video, can be seen below :
